Method, device, and system for transmitting packet switched services

ABSTRACT

A method, a device, and a system for transmitting Packet Switched (PS) services are provided. The method includes: receiving an Activate Packet Data Protocol (PDP) Context Request message of PS services sent by a User Equipment (UE), in which the Activate PDP Context Request message carries an Access Point Name (APN) for identifying a first service network or a second service network (s 201 ); establishing a corresponding transmission channel according to the APN (s 202 ); and transmitting the PS services to the corresponding service network through the established transmission channel (s 203 ). Through the method and the device, different networks are selected to transmit the PS services according to the APN for identifying different networks in the Activate PDP Context Request message of PS services sent from the UE, thereby implementing distribution of the PS services.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of International Application No.PCT/CN2009/074548, filed on Oct. 21, 2009, which claims priority toChinese Patent Application No. 200810171635.2, filed on Oct. 22, 2008,both of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of wireless communications,and in particular, to a method, a device, and a system for transmittingPacket Switched (PS) services.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the prior art, it is proposed that evolution is performed on HighSpeed Packet Access (HSPA) in two aspects, that is, air interface andnetwork architecture, so as to improve the system performance. The airinterface evolution includes downlink Multiple Input Multiple Output(MIMO), downlink 64 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (64 QAM), and uplink16QAM. HSPA+flat architecture is proposed for the network architectureevolution. As optional HSPA+architecture, the architecture has thefollowing features: functions of an original Radio Network Controller(RNC) are fully migrated to an evolved HSPA NodeB; the evolved HSPANodeB is directly connected to a Serving General Packet Radio Service(GPRS) Support Node (SGSN) of a core network through an IuPS interface,and if one tunnel mode is supported, a user plane of the evolved HSPANodeB may be directly connected to a Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN)through a Gn interface, and a control plane is still connected to theSGSN through the IuPS interface. The HSPA+evolution is mainly PS serviceoriented, and in order to be backward compatible with conventionalCircuit Switched (CS) services of a User Equipment (UE), an Iu-CScontrol plane interface is reserved. The evolved HSPA NodeBs areconnected to each other through the Iur interface, and the evolved HSPANodeB and the RNC are connected to each other through the Iur interface.

Compared with conventional architecture, this architecture has fewernodes, and has similar Radio Access Network (RAN) architecture to LongTerm Evolution (LTE). Meanwhile, when the PS traffic rises, load impacton the RNC node in the conventional architecture may be reduced. For anoperator, the device types and the maintenance cost are reduced byreducing the RNC node.

During a PS call, a session needs to be established, that is, a PacketData Protocol (PDP) context activation process is needed, and thespecific procedure is shown in FIG. 1. In an Activate PDP ContextRequest message sent to the SGSN from the UE, the UE provides an AccessPoint Name (APN) to provide a destination network name of the currentsession of the UE. The core network queries and obtains an address ofthe APN through a Domain Name System (DNS) service. After the SGSNreceives the Activate PDP Context Request message, the SGSN sends aCreate PDP Context Request message to the corresponding GGSN accordingto the obtained APN information. After a response (Create PDP ContextResponse) of the GGSN is obtained, a Radio Access Bearer (RAB) setupprocess is performed between the SGSN and the RAN, and between the RANand the UE. During such process, if a user plane is established betweenthe RAN and the GGSN by using the direct tunnel technology instead ofthrough the SGSN, the user plane address provided in an RAB AssignmentRequest message returned to the RNC from the SGSN points to the GGSN,and if a non-direct tunnel mode is used, the user plane address pointsto the SGSN. The SGSN sends an Invoke Trace message to the RNC to starta tracing process. If Quality of Service (QoS) degradation occurs in theRAB setup process, the SGSN updates QoS data to the GGSN through anUpdate PDP Context Request, and the GGSN returns an Update PDP ContextResponse message to the SGSN to confirm that the operation succeeds.

In the prior art, the evolved HSPA NodeB supports the IuPS interface andthe IuCS control plane interface, and is connected to the core networkin the PS domain and the CS domain through the two interfaces,respectively. The two interfaces transmit the user service data to thecore network through the evolved HSPA NodeB.

In the implementation of the present invention, the inventors find thatthe prior art at least has the following disadvantages:

In the PS services, some services have low QoS requirements, but stilloccupy expensive telecommunication network transmission resources,thereby causing certain waste of the network resources.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention provide a method, a device, and asystem for transmitting PS services, so as to implement distribution ofthe PS services according to different destination addresses in the PSservices when a communication system supports the PS services.

A method for transmitting PS services provided in an embodiment of thepresent invention includes:

receiving an Activate PDP Context Request message of PS services sentfrom a UE, in which the Activate PDP Context Request message carries anAPN for identifying a core network or an external network;

establishing a corresponding transmission channel according to the APN,in which if the APN identifies the external network, a transmissionchannel directly connected to the external network is established; and

transmitting the PS services through the established transmissionchannel.

An access network device provided in an embodiment of the presentinvention is applied in a system for transmitting PS services tocommunicate with a UE in the system, and includes:

a channel establishment unit, configured to establish a transmissionchannel between the UE and an access network when an APN for identifyinga core network or an external network carried in a received Activate PDPContext Request message of PS services sent from the UE identifies theexternal network, in which the transmission channel is directlyconnected to the external network; and

a service transmission unit, configured to directly transmit the PSservices to the external network through the transmission channelestablished by the channel establishment unit.

A system for transmitting PS services provided in an embodiment of thepresent invention includes:

a recognition unit, configured to receive an Activate PDP ContextRequest message of PS services sent from a UE, and recognize an APN foridentifying a core network or an external network carried in theActivate PDP Context Request message;

a channel unit, configured to establish a corresponding transmissionchannel according to the APN, in which if the APN identifies theexternal network, a transmission channel directly connected to theexternal network is established; and

a transmission unit, configured to transmit the PS services through thetransmission channel established by the channel unit.

Compared with the prior art, the embodiments of the present invention atleast have the following advantages.

Different transmission networks are selected to transmit the PS servicesaccording to the different APNs in the Activate PDP Context Requestmessage of PS services sent from the UE, so that the distribution of thePS services is implemented, and the transmission of Internet servicesdoes not pass through the core network, thereby dramatically reducingthe requirements for transmission network resources and the cost.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a PDP context activation process in theprior art;

FIG. 2 is a schematic flow chart of a method according to an embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 3A is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of a methodaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3B is a schematic flow chart of a method according to an embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 4A is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of a methodaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4B is a schematic flow chart of a method according to an embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of an access network deviceaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of an access network deviceaccording to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of an access network deviceaccording to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a system for transmitting PSservices according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a channel unit in a systemfor transmitting PS services according to an embodiment of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device accordingto an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

An embodiment of the present invention provides a method fortransmitting PS services, and as shown in FIG. 2, the method includesthe following steps:

Step s201: Receive an Activate PDP Context Request message of PSservices sent from a UE, in which the Activate PDP Context Requestmessage carries an APN for identifying a first service network or asecond service network.

The first service network may be a core network, and the second servicenetwork may be an external network.

Step s202: Establish a corresponding transmission channel according tothe APN.

Step s203: Transmit the PS services to the corresponding service networkthrough the established transmission channel.

Through the method in the embodiment of the present invention, differentnetworks are selected to transmit the PS services according to the APNfor identifying different networks in the Activate PDP Context Requestmessage of PS services sent from the UE, thereby implementing thedistribution of the PS services.

The embodiments of the present invention are described in further detailin the following with reference to specific application scenarios, inwhich a communication system is, for example, Wideband Code DivisionMultiple Access (WCDMA), and the recognition of the APN is implemented,for example, in an RAN.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a method fortransmitting PS services, and the application scenario thereof is shownin FIG. 3A. In a network, an RAN has a PDP activation message parsingand processing function (which may be implemented by a first module) anda GGSN-like function (which may be implemented by a second module) inaddition to conventional RNC and NodeB functions. The PDP activationmessage parsing and processing function is to receive and parse anActivate PDP Context Request message sent from a UE, and the GGSN-likefunction is to route user data and allocate Internet Protocol (IP)addresses to the UE.

In addition, the RAN includes logical interfaces Iu PS and Gi, in whichthe Iu PS interface is connected to the core network of a PS domain, andthe Gi interface is connected to an external network, for example, theGi interface is connected to a public Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line(ADSL) network or directly connected to the Internet.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3B, the method for transmitting PSservices includes the following steps:

Step s301: A first module of an RAN receives an Activate PDP ContextRequest message sent from a UE.

Specifically, the first module of the RAN has the PDP activation messageparsing and processing function, and receives the Activate PDP ContextRequest message sent from the UE.

Step s302: The first module of the RAN parses the received Activate PDPContext Request message, and reads APN information thereof.

Specifically, the first module of the RAN parses the received ActivatePDP Context Request message through the PDP activation message parsingand processing function thereof, and reads the APN information carriedby the message.

Step s303: The first module of the RAN sends the Activate PDP ContextRequest message according to the read APN information.

The first module of the RAN sends the Activate PDP Context Requestmessage according to the read APN information. When the APN informationidentifies a GGSN of a core network, the first module of the RANtransparently transmits the message to an SGSN, and after the SGSNreceives the Activate PDP Context Request message, the SGSN sends aCreate PDP Context Request message to the GGSN. After a response of theGGSN is obtained, an RAB setup process is performed between the SGSN (orthe GGSN) and the RAN, and between the RAN and the UE, and an RABchannel is established between the core network and the RAN and betweenthe RAN and the UE for service communication.

Specifically, the SGSN sends an RAB Assignment Request message to theRAN to request the RAN to establish the RAB channel between the RAN andthe SGSN and between the RAN and the UE. After the RAN receives the RABAssignment Request message, the RAN establishes the RAB channel betweenthe RAN and the SGSN and between the RAN and the UE according to channelparameter information carried in the message, such as a signaltransmission rate, and sends the PS services to the SGSN through theestablished RAB channel. When the system uses a direct tunnel mode, theRAB Assignment Request message sent from the SGSN includes addressinformation of the GGSN, and the RAN establishes the RAB channel betweenthe RAN and the GGSN and between the RAN and the UE, and sends the PSservices to the GGSN. Afterwards, the received PS services are sent tothe core network through the SGSN or the GGSN.

When the APN information identifies the external network connected tothe Gi interface, a second module of the RAN having the GGSN-likefunction is required to process the Activate PDP Context Requestmessage, and step s304 is performed.

Step s304: The first module of the RAN sends a Create PDP ContextRequest message to the second module, in which the second module has theGGSN-like function.

Step s305: The first module of the RAN receives a Create PDP ContextResponse message sent from the second module.

Specifically, the Create PDP Context Response message sent from thesecond module of the RAN includes address information of the secondmodule.

Step s306: The first module of the RAN sends a Radio Access Bearer Setupmessage to the UE, and establishes a PS service data routing pathbetween the UE and the second module.

Specifically, the Radio Access Bearer Setup message contains the addressinformation of the second module received by the first module of theRAN, the first module of the RAN sends the address information to theUE, and the UE accesses the second module of the RAN by using theaddress information, interacts with the second module of the RAN, andestablishes the PS service data routing path.

Step s307: The second module of the RAN allocates an IP address to theUE, establishes a service transmission channel, and sends the PS servicedata of the UE with the APN identifying the Internet to the Internetthrough the channel and the Gi interface.

The GGSN-like functions of the second module of the RAN further include:an interface conversion function and an address allocation function,which are responsible for routing data, allocating IP addresses, andsending the PS service data of the UE to the Internet.

Optionally, the method may further include step s308 and step s309.

Step s308: If the RAN is connected to the Internet through the Giinterface and it is required to authenticate the UE, the second moduleof the RAN sends an authentication request to an Authentication,Authorization and Accounting (AAA) server.

Step s309: After receiving the authentication request sent from the RAN,the AAA server routes the authentication request to a Home LocationRegister (HLR), and the authentication of the UE is implemented throughthe interaction between the AAA server and the HLR.

In the embodiment of the present invention, a device in the RAN is anaccess network device, and the access network device may be an enhancedNodeB (eNB) in an HSPA flat architecture, or an eNB in an LTE system, ora base station in a Code Division Multiple Access 2000 (CDMA2000)system, or a NodeB in a Time Division-Synchronous Code Division MultipleAccess (TD-SCDMA) system, and the present invention is not limitedthereto.

Through the method in the embodiment of the present invention, differentnetworks are selected to transmit the PS services according to the APNfor identifying different networks in the Activate PDP Context Requestmessage of PS services sent from the UE, thereby implementing thedistribution of the PS services.

Specifically, the parsing and processing of the PDP activation messageare implemented in the access network RAN (which may be implementedthrough a module having the PDP activation message parsing andprocessing function), the message with the APN identifying the externalnetwork (such as the Internet) in the Activate PDP Context Requestmessage is processed, and the message with the APN identifying the corenetwork is transparently transmitted. If the recognition result in theaccess network indicates that the APN identifies the core network, theActivate PDP Context Request message is sent to a network device of thecore network, and a first transmission channel between the UE and thecore network is established. If the recognition result indicates thatthe APN identifies the external network, a second transmission channelbetween the UE and the access network is established, and the secondtransmission channel is directly connected to the external network.

In this way, in the case that the RAN supports dual interfaces (oneinterface connects the core network, such as an IuPS interface, and theother interface connects the external network, such as the Gi interface)at the same time, services pointing to different networks may bedistributed, and the services pointing to the external network may bedirectly transmitted to a service server through the second transmissionchannel without being forwarded by the core network. Therefore, on onehand, the traffic load of the core network is reduced, and on the otherhand, when the second transmission channel uses a low-cost transmissionnetwork, the transmission cost may be reduced.

In addition, if the RAN is connected to the external network and it isrequired to authenticate the UE, the authentication request may be sentto the AAA server, and the authentication is performed through theinteraction between the AAA server and the HLR.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a method fortransmitting PS services. As shown in FIG. 4A, in this embodiment, anSGSN receives and parses an Activate PDP Context Request message sentfrom a UE, that is, the recognition of an APN may be implemented in acore network. The RAN further has a GGSN-like function for the routinguser data and allocating IP addresses to UE in addition to conventionalRNC and NodeB functions.

In addition, the RAN includes logical interfaces Iu PS and Gi, in whichthe Iu PS interface is connected to the core network of a PS domain, andthe Gi interface is connected to any other low-cost transmissionnetwork, such as a public ADSL network, or is directly connected to theInternet.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4B, the method for transmitting PSservices includes the following steps:

Step s401: An SGSN of a core network receives an Activate PDP ContextRequest message forwarded by an RAN.

Step s402: The SGSN parses the received PDP message and reads APNinformation.

Step s403: The SGSN processes the message according to the APNinformation in the message.

A special APN is set in the core network, and the SGSN performsdifferent operations according to the APN in the received message.

When the APN identifies a GGSN of the core network, the SGSN sends amessage to the GGSN for interaction. When the APN identifies a Gateway(GW) connected to the Gi interface, or is a set specific APN, the SSGNdoes not interact with the GGSN, but directly returns an RAB AssignmentRequest message to the RAN, performs an RAB assignment procedure, andmodifies address information of Iu transport association in the RABAssignment Request message to point to a second module in the RAN havingthe GGSN-like function, and then Step s404 is performed.

Step s404: The second module of the RAN receives the RAB AssignmentRequest message sent from the SGSN, and establishes a PS service datarouting path between the second module and the UE, in which the secondmodule has the GGSN-like function.

Specifically, the RAN performs the RAB assignment procedure according tothe RAB Assignment Request message, the address information in the RABAssignment Request points to the second module of the RAN, and thesecond module of the RAN establishes the PS service data routing pathbetween the second module and the UE according to the addressinformation.

Step s405: The second module of the RAN allocates an IP address to theUE, establishes a PS service transmission channel, and sends the PSservice data of the UE to the Internet through the channel and the Giinterface, in which the second module has the GGSN-like function.

Optionally, the method may further include steps s406 and s407.

Step s406: If the RAN is connected to the Internet through the Giinterface and it is required to authenticate the UE, an authenticationrequest is sent to an AAA server through the GGSN-like function.

Step s407: The AAA server receiving the authentication request routesthe authentication request to an HLR, and the authentication of the UEis implemented through the interaction between the AAA server and theHLR.

Through the method in the embodiment of the present invention, differentnetworks are selected to transmit the PS services according to the APNfor identifying different networks in the Activate PDP Context Requestmessage of PS services sent from the UE, thereby implementing thedistribution of the PS services.

Specifically, the parsing and processing of the PDP activation messageare implemented in the core network. For example, the SGSN modifies aPDP context processing procedure with the APN identifying the externalnetwork (such as the Internet), so as to directly establish, in theaccess network, a user plane channel to the external network. When theAPN identifies the GGSN of the core network, the SGSN sends a message tothe GGSN for interaction.

In this way, in the case that the RAN supports dual interfaces (oneconnects the core network, such as an IuPS interface, and the otherconnects the external network, such as the Gi interface) at the sametime, services pointing to different networks may be distributed, andthe services pointing to the external network may be directlytransmitted to a service server through a second transmission channelwithout being forwarded by the core network. Therefore, on one hand, thetraffic load of the core network is reduced, and on the other hand, whenthe second transmission channel uses a low-cost transmission network,the transmission cost may be reduced.

In addition, if the RAN is connected to the external network and it isrequired to authenticate the UE, the authentication request may be sentto the AAA server, and the authentication is performed through theinteraction between the AAA server and the HLR.

The method provided in the embodiments of the present invention isintroduced in just one specific application scenario. Definitely, thepresent invention is applicable to other scenarios, such as LTE,CDMA2000, and TD-SCDMA communication systems. When the embodiments ofthe present invention are applied in the LTE communication system, theRAN in the embodiments of the present invention may be changed to aneNB, and the processing procedure is the same. In CDMA2000, the RANsupports two interfaces, in which one is connected to a Packet DataServing Node (PDSN), and the other is connected to the Internet. In theTD-SCDMA system, the processing procedure is similar to the processingprocedure in the embodiments of the present invention.

An embodiment of the present invention provides an access networkdevice. The device may be an RAN device or an evolved Node-B (eNb), andis applied in a system for transmitting PS services to communicate witha UE in the system. As shown in FIG. 5, the device includes a channelestablishment unit 51 and a service transmission unit 52.

The channel establishment unit 51 is configured to establish atransmission channel between the UE and an access network when an APNfor identifying a core network or an external network carried in anActivate PDP Context Request message of PS services sent from the UEidentifies the external network, in which the transmission channel isdirectly connected to the external network. One example of the specificprocess for establishing the transmission channel is as follows. Thechannel establishment unit 51 sends a Radio Access Bearer Setup messageto the UE, in which the Radio Access Bearer Setup message containsaddress information of the access network, so that the UE accesses theaccess network by using the address information, interacts with theaccess network, and establishes a service data routing path, and an IPaddress is allocated to the UE, and the transmission channel between theUE and the access network is established.

The service transmission unit 52 is configured to transmit the PSservices to the external network through the transmission channelestablished by the channel establishment unit 51.

Specifically, when a recognition result indicates that the APNidentifies the external network, the channel establishment unit 51establishes the transmission channel between the UE and the accessnetwork, in which the transmission channel is directly connected to theexternal network, and the service transmission unit 52 may transmit thePS services to the external network through the transmission channel.

The access network device may be an eNB in HSPA flat architecture, or aneNB in an LTE system, or a base station in a CDMA2000 system, or a NodeBin a TD-SCDMA system, or the like, which is not limited in thisembodiment.

As shown in FIG. 6, in another embodiment of the present invention, theaccess network device further includes a first recognition unit 53 and atransparent transmission unit 54.

The first recognition unit 53 is configured to receive an Activate PDPContext Request message of PS services sent from a UE, and recognize anAPN for identifying a core network or an external network carried in theActivate PDP Context Request message. The transparent transmission unit54 is configured to transparently transmit the Activate PDP ContextRequest message to the core network when the APN recognized by the firstrecognition unit 53 identifies the core network.

Specifically, after receiving the Activate PDP Context Request messageof the PS services sent from the UE, the first recognition unit 53 ofthe access network device recognizes the APN for identifying the corenetwork or the external network carried in the message. When therecognition result indicates that the APN identifies the core network,the transparent transmission unit 54 transparently transmits theActivate PDP Context Request message to the core network.

As shown in FIG. 7, in another embodiment of the present invention, thesystem for transmitting PS services further includes a secondrecognition unit 55 located in the core network.

The second recognition unit 55 is configured to receive an Activate PDPContext Request message of PS services sent from the UE, and recognizean APN for identifying a first service network or a second servicenetwork carried in the Activate PDP Context Request message. The firstservice network may be a core network, and the second service networkmay be an external network.

The access network device may be an eNB in HSPA flat architecture, or aneNB in an LTE system, or a base station in a CDMA2000 system, or a NodeBin a TD-SCDMA system.

Through the device in the embodiment of the present invention, differentnetworks are selected to transmit the PS services according to the APNfor identifying different networks in the Activate PDP Context Requestmessage of PS services sent from the UE, thereby implementing thedistribution of the PS services.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a system fortransmitting PS services. As shown in FIG. 8, the system includes arecognition unit 81, a channel unit 82, and a transmission unit 83.

The recognition unit 81 is configured to receive an Activate PDP ContextRequest message of PS services sent from a UE, and recognize an APN foridentifying a first service network or a second service network carriedin the Activate PDP Context Request message.

The recognition unit 81 is located in an access network or a corenetwork; the first service network may be the core network, and thesecond service network may be an external network.

The channel unit 82 is configured to establish a correspondingtransmission channel according to the APN.

The transmission unit 83 is configured to transmit the PS services tothe corresponding service network through the transmission channelestablished by the channel unit 82.

As shown in FIG. 9, the channel unit 82 includes a first channelsub-unit 821 and a second channel sub-unit 822, in which the firstchannel sub-unit 821 is located in the core network and is configured toestablish a first transmission channel between the UE and the corenetwork when a recognition result of the recognition unit 81 indicatesthat the APN identifies the core network.

Specifically, when the recognition result of the recognition unit 81indicates that the APN identifies the core network, the first channelsub-unit 821 sends the Activate PDP Context Request message to a networkdevice of the core network, and establishes the first transmissionchannel between the UE and the core network.

The second channel sub-unit 822 is located in the access network and isconfigured to establish a second transmission channel between the UE andthe access network when the recognition result of the recognition unit81 indicates that the APN identifies the external network, in which thesecond transmission channel is directly connected to the externalnetwork.

One example of the specific process of establishing the secondtransmission channel is as follows. The second channel sub-unit 822sends a Radio Access Bearer Setup message to the UE, in which the RadioAccess Bearer Setup message contains address information of the accessnetwork, so that the UE accesses the access network by using the addressinformation, interacts with the access network, and establishes aservice data routing path. The second channel sub-unit 822 allocates anIP address to the UE, and establishes the second transmission channelbetween the UE and the access network, in which the second transmissionchannel is directly connected to the external network.

The system may be an HSPA flat architecture system, or an LTE system, ora CDMA2000 system, or a TD-SCDMA system, or the like, which is notlimited in this embodiment.

Through the system in the embodiment of the present invention, differentnetworks are selected to transmit the PS services according to the APNfor identifying different networks in the Activate PDP Context Requestmessage of PS services sent from the UE, thereby implementing thedistribution of the PS services.

As shown in FIG. 10, in another embodiment of the present invention, anetwork device located in a core network includes a message recognitionunit 101, a transmission channel unit 102, and a service transmissionunit 103.

The message recognition unit 101 is configured to receive an ActivatePDP Context Request message of PS services sent from a UE, and recognizean APN for identifying a first service network or a second servicenetwork carried in the Activate PDP Context Request message.

The first service network may be a core network, and the second servicenetwork may be an external network.

The transmission channel unit 102 is configured to establish acorresponding transmission channel according to the APN.

Specifically, the transmission channel unit 102 is configured toestablish a first transmission channel between the UE and the corenetwork when a recognition result of the message recognition unit 101indicates that the APN identifies the core network.

The service transmission unit 103 is configured to transmit the PSservices to the corresponding service network through the transmissionchannel established by the transmission channel unit 102.

Through the device in the embodiment of the present invention, differentnetworks are selected to transmit the PS services according to the APNfor identifying different networks in the Activate PDP Context Requestmessage of PS services sent from the UE, thereby implementing thedistribution of the PS services.

Through the above description of the embodiments, it is clear to personsskilled in the art that the present invention may be accomplishedthrough hardware, or through software plus a necessary universalhardware platform. Based on this, the technical solutions of the presentinvention may be embodied in the form of a software product. Thesoftware product may be stored in a nonvolatile storage media (forexample, a CD-ROM, a USB flash drive, or a removable hard disk) andcontain several instructions for instructing a computer device (forexample, a personal computer, a server, or a network device) to performthe method according to the embodiments of the present invention.

To sum up, the above descriptions are merely exemplary embodiments ofthe present invention, but are not intended to limit the presentinvention. Any modification, equivalent replacement, or improvement madewithout departing from the principle of the present invention shouldfall within the scope of the present invention.

1. A method for transmitting Packet Switched (PS) services, comprising:receiving an Activate Packet Data Protocol (PDP) Context Request messageof PS services sent from a User Equipment (UE), wherein the Activate PDPContext Request message carries an Access Point Name (APN) foridentifying a core network or an external network; establishing acorresponding transmission channel according to the APN, wherein if theAPN identifies the external network, a transmission channel directlyconnected to the external network is established; and transmitting thePS services through the established transmission channel.
 2. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the establishing the correspondingtransmission channel according to the APN comprises: recognizing, by anaccess network device, the APN in an access network; sending, by theaccess network device, the Activate PDP Context Request message to anetwork device of the core network and establishing a first transmissionchannel between the UE and the core network if the APN identifies thecore network; and establishing, by the access network device, a secondtransmission channel between the UE and the access network if the APNidentifies the external network, wherein the second transmission channelis directly connected to the external network.
 3. The method accordingto claim 2, wherein the establishing the second transmission channelbetween the UE and the access network comprises: establishing a PSservice data routing path in the access network, and allocating anInternet Protocol (IP) address to the UE, so as to complete establishingthe second transmission channel.
 4. The method according to claim 1,wherein the establishing the corresponding transmission channelaccording to the APN comprises: recognizing, by a network device of thecore network, the APN; processing, by the network device of the corenetwork, the Activate PDP Context Request message, and establishing atransmission channel between the UE and the core network if the APNidentifies the core network; and sending, by the network device of thecore network, a Radio Access Bearer (RAB) Assignment Request message toan access network device, and establishing, by the access networkdevice, a transmission channel between the UE and the access network ifthe APN identifies the external network, wherein the transmissionchannel is directly connected to the external network.
 5. The methodaccording to claim 4, wherein the establishing, by the access networkdevice, the transmission channel between the UE and the access networkcomprises: performing an RAB assignment procedure according to the RABAssignment Request message, wherein address information in the RABAssignment Request in the RAB assignment procedure points to the accessnetwork; and establishing a PS service data routing path in the accessnetwork, and allocating an IP address to the UE, so as to completeestablishing the transmission channel.
 6. The method according to claim2, wherein the access network device is an enhanced NodeB (eNB) in HighSpeed Packet Access (HSPA) flat architecture, or an eNB in a Long TermEvolution (LTE) system, or a base station in a Code Division MultipleAccess 2000 (CDMA2000) system, or a NodeB in a Time Division-SynchronousCode Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA) system.
 7. The method accordingto claim 3, wherein the access network device is an eNB in HSPA flatarchitecture, or an eNB in a LTE system, or a base station in a CDMA2000system, or a NodeB in a TD-SCDMA system.
 8. The method according toclaim 3, further comprising: sending an authentication request to anAuthentication, Authorization and Accounting (AAA) server.
 9. The methodaccording to claim 5, further comprising: sending an authenticationrequest to a AAA server.
 10. An access network device, applied in asystem for transmitting Packet Switched (PS) services to communicatewith a User Equipment (UE) in the system, comprising: a channelestablishment unit, configured to establish a transmission channelbetween the UE and an access network, when an Access Point Name (APN)for identifying a core network or an external network carried in anActivate Packet Data Protocol (PDP) Context Request message of the PSservices sent from the UE identifies the external network, wherein thetransmission channel is directly connected to the external network; anda service transmission unit, configured to directly transmit the PSservices to the external network through the transmission channelestablished by the channel establishment unit.
 11. The access networkdevice according to claim 10, further comprising: a first recognitionunit, configured to receive the Activate PDP Context Request message ofthe PS services sent from the UE, and recognize the APN for identifyingthe core network or the external network carried in the Activate PDPContext Request message; and a transparent transmission unit, configuredto transparently transmit the Activate PDP Context Request message to anetwork device of the core network when the APN recognized by the firstrecognition unit identifies the core network.
 12. The access networkdevice according to claim 10, wherein the access network device is anenhanced NodeB (eNB) in High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) flatarchitecture, or an eNB in a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, or a basestation in a Code Division Multiple Access 2000 (CDMA2000) system, or aNodeB in a Time Division-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access(TD-SCDMA) system.
 13. The access network device according to claim 11,wherein the access network device is an eNB in HSPA flat architecture,or an eNB in a LTE system, or a base station in a CDMA2000 system, or aNodeB in a TD-SCDMA system.
 14. A system for transmitting PacketSwitched (PS) services, comprising: a recognition unit, configured toreceive an Activate Packet Data Protocol (PDP) Context Request messageof PS services sent from a User Equipment (UE), and recognize an AccessPoint Name (APN) for identifying a core network or an external networkcarried in the Activate PDP Context Request message; a channel unit,configured to establish a corresponding transmission channel accordingto the APN, wherein if the APN identifies the external network, atransmission channel directly connected to the external network isestablished; and a transmission unit, configured to transmit the PSservices through the transmission channel established by the channelunit.
 15. The system according to claim 14, wherein the recognition unitis located in an access network.
 16. The system according to claim 14,wherein the recognition unit is located in the core network.
 17. Thesystem according to claim 15, wherein the channel unit comprises a firstchannel sub-unit and/or a second channel sub-unit, the first channelsub-unit is located in the core network, and is configured to establisha first transmission channel between the UE and the core network when arecognition result of the recognition unit indicates that the APNidentifies the core network; and the second channel sub-unit is locatedin the access network, and is configured to establish a secondtransmission channel between the UE and the access network when therecognition result of the recognition unit indicates that the APNidentifies the external network, wherein the second transmission channelis directly connected to the external network.
 18. The system accordingto claim 16, wherein the channel unit comprises a first channel sub-unitand/or a second channel sub-unit, the first channel sub-unit is locatedin the core network, and is configured to establish a first transmissionchannel between the UE and the core network when a recognition result ofthe recognition unit indicates that the APN identifies the core network;and the second channel sub-unit is located in the access network, and isconfigured to establish a second transmission channel between the UE andthe access network when the recognition result of the recognition unitindicates that the APN identifies the external network, wherein thesecond transmission channel is directly connected to the externalnetwork.
 19. The system according to claim 14, wherein the system is aHigh Speed Packet Access (HSPA) flat architecture system, or a Long TermEvolution (LTE) system, or a Code Division Multiple Access 2000(CDMA2000) system, or a Time Division-Synchronous Code Division MultipleAccess (TD-SCDMA) system.
 20. The system according to claim 15, whereinthe system is a HSPA flat architecture system, or a LTE system, or aCDMA2000 system, or a TD-SCDMA system.